


Breaking the Silence

by RosalindHawkins



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: F/M, Fluff, One-Shot, Past Abuse, Trust, silentshipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-31
Updated: 2016-08-31
Packaged: 2018-08-12 02:47:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7917424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosalindHawkins/pseuds/RosalindHawkins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Seto struggles to share his past abuse with Serenity because he feels that he owes her the truth, especially because he only started dating her to spite her brother.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Breaking the Silence

He should have fallen asleep by now. There was no reason for him to still be awake, unless his insomnia was making some sort of comeback. He looked down at the female form beside him in bed, her strawberry hair sprawled across the pillow as she slept peacefully, so peacefully… he envied her. She was so ignorant of life's pain and the true horrors that existed even within her own city. How else could she sleep so peacefully?

But he, he knew things that could drive a man insane with grief, things that would give his little angel nightmares and forever destroy her peace of mind.

Like the fact that he'd intended on using her from the beginning, that he had never felt anything for her until now, and he wasn't even sure of that. He never would have thought to do so if she hadn't come to him when he was alone and expressed a naive gratitude to him for making sure Bakura was cared for by his doctors.

"I knew you would make sure he was alright," she'd said. "I knew that deep down, you really did care."

He hadn't, and he still didn't. He'd sent his doctors to the teen because he didn't want his company to be sued and because that's what the doctors were paid to do. Besides, he wanted the dork patrol off his back, and that was the only way they would leave him alone.

She had come to him, so terribly vulnerable, and he had pounced on the opportunity to spite that blond mutt before he even stopped to think too hard about it. His plan had worked: Serenity was still incredibly gullible about the goodness she believed to exist in the world, and Joey was furious with Kaiba for hooking up with his little sister, but now Seto was starting to have doubts.

Why did it matter to him that he'd soiled his pure angel with his selfish, cruel intentions? There was a time when such a thing wouldn't make him so much as bat an eye, but now… She was changing him. That was the only reasonable answer. He hadn't thought that he could be changed. He didn't know if he wanted to change. He didn't know if he _liked_ that she was changing him.

Guilt was an uncomfortable emotion to deal with, for one thing, for now that he'd used her, he knew that he owed her the truth. But to tell her the truth would break her fragile heart and spoil the tranquility that emanated from some mysterious source deep within her.

How could he tell her that he'd been lying to her without remorse this long?

But how could he not?

She deserved the truth, but it made him too uncomfortable to think about telling her. Besides, if she knew the truth, she would leave, and he didn't want that.

It was hard to admit as much even to himself: he didn't want her to leave. More aptly, he wanted her to stay.

If he didn't tell her, perhaps he could make it up to her with another truth, something that made him, for just a few moments, as vulnerable in front of her as she was with him all the time.

Maybe he'd tell her the truth some time in the distant future, if she stuck around long enough, that is. He still couldn't understand why she'd fallen for him at all. It wasn't just the fact that he'd manipulated her with a false charm. It wasn't just the fact that she thought him to be a far better man than he really was. There was something else going on, there had to be.

He was awake all night long, still pondering this conundrum when she awoke.

"Hm, Seto?" Her sleep-heavy eyelids lifted just enough for her hazel eyes to identify his half-sitting figure. "Why are you awake?" she yawned, and he found himself smiling ever so slightly as he watched her.

"Couldn't sleep," he answered quietly, letting one hand fall to the pillow to stroke her hair. "You should, though. You still have time."

"Is something bothering you?" she asked, that look of genuine concern fixed on him so potently that he felt like she could read all of his lies before he even spoke them.

"No, I'm fine. Go back to sleep, Serenity."

For once, though, she didn't seem content to do as he said. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and studied his face more closely in the semi-darkness.

"If you're awake, then something's bothering you," she said, so smoothly, so calmly. How was she always so calm? "Tell me, what is it?" She took his hand in hers, pressing his knuckles to her lips in an intimate gesture that just made him feel worse. Now, now was the chance for him to be vulnerable. What better time to do so than now, when they were guaranteed to have no witnesses to his weakness?

"I was thinking about… Gozaburo," he answered softly.

"What about him?" she persisted, worried about him.

"He was not a kind man."

She thought that over for a few moments.

"What do you mean by that?" She was seeking to understand him, and while it was an admirable trait of hers, it was hurting him now. It was only his own fault, though: he wouldn't be telling her anything if he didn't feel guilty for using her.

"He was cruel." The answer was accurate. "I know your brother thinks of me as a rich spoiled brat, but only part of that is true. I most certainly wasn't spoiled as a child."

Serenity sat up now, raising a hand and running her fingers through his hair as she leaned in closer against him. Her silence bothered him, her pity tangible and sickening.

"I'm fine now, though," he said quickly, swallowing hard as something made his pulse quicken. He was nervous. When was the last time he'd been nervous?

"Thank you for telling me," she said simply, kissing him tenderly as she caressed his face with both of her hands. It still wasn't good enough for him, though. He placed his hands over hers and gently drew her hands away from his face as he broke the kiss, pressing her hands together between his own.

"You don't get it." Why did it matter so much to him that she knew the full truth about this, at least? Nothing about his own emotions was making sense to him right now. "When I was young, he would… I mean, I could never… He would always…" He swallowed hard. Why couldn't he get the words out? Why was his heart pounding so fast? He pressed his forehead against hers as he struggle push the words out of his mind and to his mouth. A single, solitary tear drop fell from his eye before he could stop it, and it splattered onto her cheek.

"It's _okay,_ Seto," she murmured, kissing him again. "I understand." The warmth in her voice was too good for someone as corrupted as him, but it was so genuine and pure that he couldn't help but gravitate towards it like a moth to a flame.

"You do?" he asked faintly in disbelief.

"I do." She kissed him again, deeply, sweetly, until he moaned and wrapped an arm around her, shifting her closer to himself, craving more.


End file.
